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Those of you hoping for a Trump impeachment and conviction...

Be careful what you wish for... if Trump is convicted, Pence will be President. He is far more competent. Evangelicals will flock to him, making him a likely winner in 2020. And, while foreign policy and international relations will improve, domestically, there will be a very strong push to Christianize this country and its laws. Any opposition to that will be labelled as anti-Christian. And, Republican “kindness” in social policy will prevail — which means cold-hearted Puritanism.

That is the downside risk to conviction.

If Trump is not convicted, there is still a reasonable chance that he can be re-elected. But, there is also a reasonable chance he will be defeated.

Rob1948 7 Oct 19
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This is propaganda, straight up.

People forget how deeply unpopular Pence has been because he was overshadowed by Trump. Evangelicals aren't going to win you an election, and the majority of America has moved past his gay conversion therapy brand of policy making.

Nor did he exactly prove a hands-on, competent governor when he was in charge of Indiana. He, like Trump, got by on his beliefs. He was widely criticized for leading from the rear.

But forget all that. What if he won? What if he just became president tomorrow?

He would be way less shitty. He views himself as a religious sort of philosopher, and has never pressed too hard when the pendulum isn't swinging his way. When his policies got him in trouble in 2015 (the whole anti-LGBT thing), he went missing. He would be far more reserved than Trump, and we'd see less actually get done, especially with a divided Congress.

First, it’s hard to get less done than has been accomplished legislatively under Trump. Second, there are already a number of die hard Christians in the Administration. The two most prominent, other than Pence, being Barr and Pompeo. They are already pushing a Christian state agenda. Third, evangelicals put Trump in office. Even with the increase in secular voters, don’t sell evangelicals short.

Propaganda? It’s an opinion. Just like you have one. Does that make yours propaganda? No. No more than mine is. However, your comment is dismissive and unappreciated.

@Rob1948 My apologies. I should have said it is LIKE propaganda. My issue is not with you personally, so I hope you do not take it as such. I don't question you as an individual, just the merit of this particular argument.

The idea that Pence is this big bad only serves to shore up the idea that Trump should remain president despite the numerous, ridiculously terrible and illegal things he has done.

We get caught up in the politicking, but fear of Pence should not drive tolerance of the current president. It's cynical and self-defeating, in my opinion.

And it was not evangelicals who elected Trump, but midwesterners who took Trump at his word, or his implication, that he would reverse deindustrialization of the Rust Belt. You know, brang bak are jerbs, even if America's economy had long since moved past non-advanced manufacturing as a primary driver.

Also it is not as if the evangelical faction has had anything but full-throated support from Trump since Day 1. The problem isn't who is in the White House, but the fact that many non-secular measures are deeply unpopular. Elective Bible classes in schools are worrisome, and part of a bad foundation which will need to be gutted, but lol, should I say have faith?

The trend of American religiosity has been on a sharp decline for more than a decade now. In 2007, the religiously unaffiliated was around 16 percent. Today, more than a quarter of Americans do not identify as religious. We are not going to become a Christian nation. The hard line that evangelicals are taking is the fight of men who realize they're losing, and desperately trying to stem the tide. It's continuing to alienate more and more Christians. Honestly, we should thank them.

[pewforum.org]

@Xuande I’m not taking it personally.

Evangelicals are Trump’s core base. They can and will be motivated to vote. And, while Christian faith may be waning in strength and commitment, it would take much to energize it into a much lastfer voting base.

The push to make America a Christian nation can be seen at many levels of political life and government. It should not be sold short because of waning influence. They are in it for the long haul and have made strides at the state and local level.

If they can continue gerrymandering efforts, it’s possible they can rig future state-level elections. If that happens, talk of a Constitutional convention will be more than talk. Alternatively, in theory, they have the votes in the USOC to overturn constitutional restrictions on separation of church and state. If the opportunity arises, the most likely vote to stop such a ruling is Chief Justice John Roberts... and, that’s not a sure thing.

I don’t know that any of that will happen but that is the direction Pence, Barr and others want it to go.

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Exactly. We know Trump is a buffoon. Pence comes across as clever and calculating. The cynic in me says Trump has always been the foil for the sinister Pence to take up the reins and ‘sort the mess’ just in time to take the driver’s seat in the not too distant future.

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also, I do see Pence as far more dangerous than Trump. Because he is establishment. He will do same exact things Trump does and worse, but he won't be telling everyone he's doing it. Establishment dems and reps both do enormously corrupt things, but they know if they told us about it, we would throw their crooked asses out! Establishment is wolf in sheeps clothing. I prefer to know my enemy.

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He won't be convicted of anything. They have no intention to impeach him. It's costume they are wearing for election cycle. They put it on so they can claim "resistance" w/o having to do anything other than talk sh-- about Trump to be believed.

Oh, many want a conviction. They just don’t understand the consequences.

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If we can catch them both in the same crime net, we can get rid of them both at the same time. But this is an extreme longshot. I agree; a President Pence would be worse.

It gets worse. Republicans will never allow Pelosi to become President and, if she does, people (with their short memories — they don’t remember what happened last week) will see it as Democrats trying to steal the presidency. That will also ensure a large turnout for a Republican candidate.

The best possible outcome is impeachment and failure to convict.

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